


Within the Emptiness

by Evilicing



Category: Gravity Rush (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Goodbyes, Hurt/Comfort, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-06-02 09:01:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19438216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilicing/pseuds/Evilicing
Summary: She'd do anything to protect this world. [The last (and first) reunion in Hekseville.]





	Within the Emptiness

**Author's Note:**

> NNNGHHHH I HAVEN'T WRITTEN ANYTHING FOR GR IN SO LONG. This is short, but I hope it'll do. <3
> 
> I've had this idea for a while, because I hate how little of a reunion Kat and Syd get at the end of GR2, so have a slight extension of that scene! >;) I feel like they'd have so much to talk about, but maybe it'd be too hard. This takes place right after the final battle.

The fight is over; it's too quiet now, and parts of Vendecentre are in complete ruin.

Syd isn't sure of the casualties, but had it not been for Kat there to protect the city from the Darkness...

No, it nearly destroyed _her_ , too.

He dismisses any stray Nevi—though most of his horde had been wiped out already—and decides to wait for her in the ruins. She'll find him, and he's positive that Kat knows he's here—knows that he wouldn't abandon her.

If coming back from the _Brink_ hadn't already proved that, Syd doesn't know what will.

It doesn’t take long for a figure to appear through the destruction of the city's debris, just as he'd expected.

A figure he knows too well.

Her prominent limp is overshadowed only by her nostalgic, peaceful smile when she walks up to face him. Like an old friend.

The same old Kat she’s always been. And yet…

Why does her presence seem so different this time?

“I had a feeling it was you,” she says, the exhaustion seeping through her voice. “Long time no see, Syd."

“Only a hundred years, my queen.” He tries to return the smile, but he isn’t sure he’s completely successful at relaying how truly happy he is to see her again. There aren’t enough words to properly convey it, either. It’s a short-lived sentiment all the same. "It’s all come back to you now, has it?”

“I remember everything… I'm finally me again."

Kat lets a shiver of satisfaction wash over her, and a quiet giggle escapes when she looks back up to lock eyes with him—eyes that have seen far more than the vacant, dreamy ones of the locked-away queen she used to be.

It doesn’t escape his notice.

She hasn't really needed his protection for a long time now, truth be told, although today's battle really didn't count.

"I had all these things I’ve wanted to say to you for ages, but now that you’re here…” Syd stops to ponder, something meaningful and fulfilling on the tip of his tongue. “Well, sadly, I... got nothing. Sorry."

Something inside her must relate, because she lets out an undignified snort of laughter that surprises them both. Especially considering her eyes are welled up with tears that don't quite match her amusement.

He doesn’t flinch when Kat springs forward to squeeze him into a tight, smothering hug, though the sudden contact itself does take him by surprise. Kat barely has the strength to stand; it’s evident, now that the weight of her body is balancing against him. She's much too strong (and stubborn) for her own good—she always has been.

There had been a lot of things in his life that Syd would change, maybe, if given the chance to alter fates out of his control. But what Queen Alua has become—what she's always _been_ —isn't one of them.

“I can’t thank you enough," she whispers, loud enough only for the two of them to hear, even though they’re alone. "Thank you for _everything_."

He smiles down at her. Kat’s face smushed-up against his chest makes her look like nothing more than a pouting child.

Even after everything she's been through, her innocence only shines brighter.

He grips her tighter when she doesn’t let go. "It was all _you_ , Gravity Queen,” he manages. “I only pulled a few strings behind the scenes.”

“Don’t be ridiculous—it all makes sense now! Everything you’ve done, ever since the beginning…" She stops to look up at him, bewildered and intrigued all at once. "Why didn’t you ever tell me…?"

Syd shakes his head. “Would you have believed me, without your memories?”

He doesn’t have the energy to tell her he wasn’t allowed to reveal that information, no matter how much he truly wanted to; the Creators had made sure of that.

Apparently she'd given the possibility some genuine thought, because it takes her a short moment to finally reply.

“…I guess not." Her finger darts up to stroke her bottom lip. “But it was all too convenient for you to have pulled off all on your own...”

"You finally figured it out, huh?" Syd feigns a small gesture of defeat. “Took you long enough."

She’s right, though. He's more of a puppet than she’s ever been, even at her most powerless; unpleasant memories of pleading her case to the Senate that ultimately schemed to silence her for good pop into his mind. Everything had worked out in her favor in the end, but not without trials and hardships and pain he couldn’t imagine enduring in her place.

But he’d do it in a heartbeat, wouldn’t he?

“They helped you guide me, at the very least,” Kat adds, as if she's figured it all out. “Especially considering that I saw what happened to you... that day..."

Her face darkens to truly recall it, and for a minute, Syd wishes she hadn’t conjured up that thought for either of them. He doesn’t want to remember the eruption of pain that pierces through him, and the scar that resonates with it.

Most of all, he doesn’t want to recall the blurry, desperate moment he let go of her trembling hand, watching her disappear into the black nothingness that swallowed her whole… the day he lost her forever.

No… not forever. Only until _now_.

Now, he will truly lose her. The sheer realization of it makes him feel sick. Useless.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” her voice bleeds through his thoughts. “I guess we have Bit to thank.”

It doesn’t matter anymore.

“Do you... have to go?" Syd blurts, although he knows the answer better than anyone. He’s seen it in too many nightmares to count.

He has to let go. Time after time after _time_ …

"Hey, do you remember? You stopped me a hundred years ago." She smirks. “But I’m so much stronger now than I was then."

Kat’s courage and passion have always been contagious. Even at a time like now, when what’s left of Syd’s heart is breaking in two, he can still muster a helpless smile, thanks to her.

“I know.”

“I’d do anything to protect this world.” Her words have always had a power to them, something illuminating and unexpectedly absolute. “That’s why I have to go.”

Spoken like a true queen.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I’m too tired to even think about stopping you.” Maybe if he says it as a joke, he won’t believe it so much—believe that he could actually stop her. “...Not this time. I know better.”

Kat is clearly relieved that he trusts her decision so readily. Or maybe she knows that, deep down, he doesn’t have any other choice but to obey her.

He can see it still burning in her eyes, too, all the things she wants to say and ask him. Maybe it reflects back at her, too, in some weird way; questions and pleas dance through his mind, but never leave his lips. Or hers.

They’ve always been close enough to sense each other’s thoughts. Kindred souls, stuck in lives they never chose but wouldn’t trade for the world… no matter the hardships.

Kat is the first to speak, careful as she reaches forward to cup one of his hands in her own. “Please, promise me that you’ll watch over her—that you won’t leave her alone.” A certain Shifter's face pops into both of their minds. “She’s… very special to me.”

Syd blinks in affirmation. “Of course.” The other Shifter would be happy to hear that, too, but he keeps that to himself. Either way, he wouldn’t dare break his word.

“And…” Kat hesitates, biting at her lip the same way she always does when she can’t keep silent any longer. “Promise me that you’ll take care of _you_ , too. For me.”

Syd can’t help but frown. “That one might be a bit harder to promise.”

“It’s not just a suggestion, you know.” Is she saying it’s a command? Queen Alua had never been good at barking orders, but something about the authority in her otherwise cheerful voice says otherwise. "Because... you're special to me, too."

Something brushes up against Syd’s ankles, and he looks down to see a familiar black cat weaving around his feet. Another familiar Guardian flies above them overhead, wings outstretched and glittering against the sky.

“Is it time, Dusty?” Kat asks, almost ruefully. She puts her hands on her hips, a passable stance to signify her attempt at bravery. “Don’t worry, I’m ready.”

But Syd isn’t ready at all—he’s not ready to see her go, nor is he ready to face a new day, once again, without her.

Maybe it’s better if they don’t say their goodbyes or draw this out any longer than they already have. He hates himself for not stopping her as she starts to turn away, but it’s for the best.

And maybe if he stares at the ground long enough, he'll sink into it—to its very core—and take Kat's place in becoming a seal for saving humanity from certain destruction.

He'd gladly do it in her place.

But it could only be her.

"Hey, Syd?"

"Yeah?" His voice breaks in the middle of it. 

When he looks up to find her, she's already shifting upwards to fly away. Smiling, accepting everything around her. Maybe she's admiring Hekseville one last time. 

"I'll... see you later. Right?"

Syd finds himself tearing up at the thought. "Right." She floats back to him, close enough that she can reach down a trembling hand to him. He takes it, expecting to feel the warmth of her skin, but instead there's something metallic and cold. He pulls back on instinct to look at it.

A key. Silver with a black gem in the center, shining back at him. The key necessary to wake Kat from her slumber in Eto. The key to a locked-away treasure she'd forgotten she even had. Now it's his.

"Thanks for fixing my music box for me." She's too far away to see her face anymore, but somehow Syd knows she's smiling. "I know it was you."

"Who can say?" he calls back, though he's not under oath to keep silent anymore. 

He closes a tight fist over the key and watches carefully this time until Kat is too far away to see. 

"Thank you, Kat." If only he'd said it a moment sooner, maybe she'd still hear.

But something tells Syd that she already knows.


End file.
